Twinkle, Twinkle, All the Night
by Nyandalee
Summary: <html><head></head>Then the traveler in the dark, thanks you for your tiny spark.</html>
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes I'm nice and decide to not write angst. Sadly, I'm horrible when it comes to any other genre.

Anyway, Melah94 shared a little head canon with me and I thought it was adorable, so I decided to write this. The actual head canon won't come in until a little later, since I'm giving multiple chapters a shot, but this is probably only going to be two chapters.

Also can you imagine big bara daddy Hanabusa? Cause that's pretty much what I've got going on here.

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><p>Sumireko sighed happily to herself as she pulled the covers up to her chin. It had been a tiring day, considering all the meetings she was forced to attend with her father, but that was in the past. Plus, it was a Friday night, which meant that she had the entire weekend ahead of her. Her presence in meetings was crucial to her success in the future - seeing as how it gave her invaluable experience - but the Hanabusa tycoon refused to let her accompany him on weekends. He wanted to give his daughter enough time to herself, and the young blonde greatly appreciated it.<p>

She shifted in the bed, throwing all thoughts of meetings and responsibilities out the window; there would be time to mull over them later. Instead, Sumireko turned her attention to the large window situated towards her right. The window stretched from floor to ceiling, giving the heiress an outstanding view of the carefully tended garden and vast night sky. The stars shone as brightly as ever, easing Sumireko's mind and filling her with joy. As a child, she had taken an odd liking to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and would squeal in delight whenever her mother or father sang the tune for her.

She chuckled quietly to herself as she remembered the fact that her father would even perform the hand gestures as he sang to her. He was a powerful man that wouldn't hesitate to destroy a company or business if it posed a threat to his financial clique, but he would give all of it away in a heartbeat, if he had to choose between luxury or his daughter's happiness. It almost happened, too. When she was attacked, he put all of his funds into companies that researched technology, on the off chance that one would be able to provide the necessary prosthetic limbs. Luckily, one company managed to pull through and create advanced artificial limbs that met the standards of her father. To this day the company still receives generous funding from the Hanabusa corporation, and has since gained a reputation for having the highest quality prosthetics available. Of course, their cybernetic models are reserved only for Sumireko, but they do release normal models to the public.

The blonde shifted her gaze to the stars once more, reveling in their sight. Her fondness of stars went a little deeper than just liking an old lullaby; in truth, it wasn't until after her near fatal encounter that she truly came to appreciate the tune.

Rehabilitation had been difficult, and at the time seemed almost impossible, but her parents encouraged her every step of the way. There were days when the heiress truly wished that the assassination attempt had been successful - lying six feet below the ground seemed far more appealing than having dysfunctional limbs akin to an infant just learning how to walk. Those days were the hardest, but her parents would never fail to cradle her in their arms and calm her. That's where Twinkle Twinkle Little Star came in. Her mother remembered how much the little blonde used to love it, so she sang the lullaby to her daughter in order to calm her.

Since then, stars - and subsequently, the night sky - have earned a special place in Sumireko's heart.

She smiled once more as she took in the view. The glimmering specks that littered the sky seemed endless, and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to count them all out. Sadly, her moment of self indulgence was interrupted by a cautious knock.

"Mistress, are you still up? I apologize for disturbing you, but an intruder has been spotted at the entrance gates."

Fear sank its talons into Sumireko's heart for a brief moment. She felt an odd, ghostly pain grip at the ends of what were left of her limbs, but quickly gulped the panic down. There was no reason to be afraid of an intruder - a possible assassin - for she had unrivaled strength. It was unnatural, sure, but as the saying goes, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

The blonde threw the covers off of herself and stood. If there truly was an assassin, she would greet - and end - them personally. Sumireko strode towards the door, opening it swiftly and shooting a kind smile to the servant.

"Thank you for informing me of the situation. I would greatly appreciate it if you would be so kind as to escort me to the uninvited guest."

The servant hesitated for a moment, torn between keeping the heiress away from potential harm or facing her wrath. In the end, he figured she was capable of fending for herself, and decided that it was better to send guards to accompany her than for her to sneak out and face the intruder alone.

"Very well, right this way." He gestured to his left, making sure to keep the blonde within his sights, in case she decided to turn around behind his back and go alone.

Sumireko simply nodded before beginning her trek to the mansion's entrance. She was honestly surprised that she was able to win the servant over without actually arguing, but she wasn't complaining.

As the pair made their way to the mansion's lobby, they could hear faint laughter, followed by authoritative voices. Sumireko mentally applauded the guards for apprehending the trespasser so quickly, but the thought died as soon as she reached the dual staircases, and caught a glimpse of the invader's silver hair.

"Banba?"


	2. Chapter 2

My original plan was to make this a two chapter story, but that didn't really work out so well, so I think I'm going to bump it up to three chapters.

Also, on an unrelated note, would anybody be interested in joining an Akuma no Riddle roleplay group on Tumblr? I have everything set up, and there are still a bunch of characters that haven't been taken yet. I know FF doesn't let users hyperlink, but the group's URL is class-black.(tumblr).com without the parentheses. Please take a look!

Anywho, sorry for the delay; I hope you enjoy.

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><p>There were an array of emotions that ran through Sumireko's mind, but the most notable emotion was worry. While Banba's unexpected presence made her heart flutter, she had no idea as to what business she had. It wasn't that late, but the night certainly wasn't young enough for visitors to pop by unannounced. If Banba appeared at this hour, she had to have an important reason, right?<p>

Despite the internal battle Sumireko was having with herself, her gaze never left her guest's. The blonde's countenance was neutral. Calm, really; a stark contrast to the girl below her. Where Sumireko hid a storm behind a relaxed mask, Shinya (or at least, she assumed it was Shinya, judging by the smirk on her face and the time of night) stood proud. The silver haired girl before her wore a victorious expression - as if her goal was to get to Sumireko, and the guards aided instead of deterred her from reaching her final destination.

Upon realizing she had still received no answer, Sumireko spoke up once more; this time seeing if she could correctly guess which of the two currently had control over the body.

"Shinya?"

"In the flesh!" The girl paused to crack her trademark grin, before continuing. "But hey, can 'ya get these brutes off of me? I didn't bring my hammer, since I figured playing nice would get me here painlessly."

Sumireko looked to the guards, then to the servant. Her first instinct was to yell at them for branding Banba as an intruder - she had visited several times before, after all - but the rational part of her mind reasoned that the guards and servants had their own work schedule, so they probably weren't on duty when the other girl decided to visit. The blonde regained her composure and put up a formal front as she descended the flight of stairs. With a simple wave of her hand, the guards released their grip on the grinning girl and stood at attention, waiting for the heiress's next command.

"Leave us be. Banba is an old friend of mine, and poses no threat to the safety of those living here." She caught Shinya's gaze, taking in the cheshire grin that nearly reached from one ear to the other. The silver haired girl's sinister smirk was intimidating, but Sumireko felt no fear when faced with it. She knew - or rather, hoped - Shinya would never harm her, so long as Mahiru didn't wish it, but she also knew that beneath that jarring expression lied a scarred girl, who had simply put up a strong visage to conceal her broken past.

But nobody would be able to tell that, based off of appearances.

Sumireko nodded, and the guards dispersed; presumably to their previous posts. Even the servant left without a word, as he saw no point in arguing with the young mistress when her mind was made up.

Soon enough, the two young girls were the only occupants in the large lobby. A heavy silence fell over the pair, but Shinya's ever present smile - if it could even be called that - never faltered.

By now, Sumireko figured the other girl was in no dire danger. She still had no idea why Shinya decided to visit, though. With curiosity getting the better of her, the blonde finally decided to end the silence.

"Is there a reason you decided to come by so late, Shinya?" It was meant to be a genuine question, but her tone held a hint of irateness to it - unintentionally, of course.

Shinya seemed to pick up on it, but didn't pay much attention to it. A halfhearted shrug was all she gave before answering. "Well y'see…it's been really hot lately, so Mahiru wanted to cool down by going for a swim. But she doesn't feel comfortable going out to a public swimming pool, even with me doin' all the dirty work, so I decided to come here. Cause y'know, you're rich. And what do rich people have?" She paused momentarily to glance at Sumireko, who was stifling a giggle. The way the blonde's shoulders slightly shook, and the way she hid her tiny smile behind an elegant hand was almost enough to wipe the smirk away from Shinya's face.

But, she had a quota to meet, and she was more than certain that she hadn't met her nightly _"Grin for at least four hours"_ mark. Still, Shinya couldn't deny that Sumireko's happiness was infectious.

After her laughter died down, Sumireko spoke up. "Ah, so you decided to break in and get captured by guards, just so you could swim in a swimming pool?"

Shinya frowned. "Got any better way to go swimming for free?"

"Now Shinya, I meant no offense. It was a brilliant plan, though I admit it was a very high risk one. These walls have seen their fair share of assassination attempts, after all."

Shinya's eyes darted to the blonde's arm. She felt a rage start to build inside of her. Sumireko didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve to be hunted like a hound, just because there was an off chance that she could have a special power. The silver haired girl was angry partially because Sumireko had been nothing but kind to her and Mahiru, but also because she could somewhat relate to her situation. Her past was blurry - Mahiru wanted nothing more than to purge that part of their life - but she remembered the pain and flashing lights like it was yesterday.

Even at a young age, Mahiru knew that the pain would always be accompanied by lights, but she didn't know why. Why did it all happen? She was only a child, what did she do to deserve the abuse? What could she, as a kid, have possibly done to receive such horrendous treatment?

To this day, she still didn't have an answer.

However, she did know that no child deserved to have their innocence stripped from them. Each kid was like an empty canvas; their experiences and outcomes creating beautiful, unique strokes across their souls.

But hers had been torn to shreds before she even had the chance to pick up a paintbrush.

Sumireko gave her companion a curious look. Shinya hadn't responded for quite awhile. Did the blonde upset her? She reached for the younger girl's hand, grasping it gently before speaking up once more.

"Come now, Shinya. You wish to swim, and I have kept you from doing so for far too long."

Despite the late hour, Sumireko was more than happy to have Shinya accompany her. She began making her way down the hall with Shinya in tow; a small smile gracing her countenance as she realized the other girl had intertwined their fingers.

It was small, but Sumireko could feel - without a doubt - a spark of warmth run through her hand, and into her heart.


End file.
